Warning: This Is Not Your Grandfather’s Talent Planning

So you've heard of radical candor by now, right? That's just one of many tools you'll need to be a better boss, according to Candor, Inc. co-founder Kim Scott. You also must master the different modes of performance on your team — especially for your top people. Here's why.

Google. Apple. Dropbox. Twitter. If anyone has had a hand in helping build phenomenal teams at powerhouse companies in their prime, it’s Kim Scott. At one point in her career, she admits she thought she was one of the best people in the world at creating amazing teams. That was, until an executive at Apple showed her how she’d been systematically undervaluing some of the most important people on her teams throughout her career. Even worse, she hadn’t been living in accordance with her own personal humanity.

Inspired by her talk at First Round’s CEO Summit, Scott shares her epiphany about management — and the mindset and framework it takes to really build a kick-ass team, starting with deciphering the distinct attributes and incentives of high-performers.

How to Tell Your Stars Apart

There’s a lot of jargon to describe superior performers on teams: 10x engineer, sales wizard, growth ninja. “Superstar” and “rock star” are also thrown about liberally, but Scott is on a mission to reclaim them — not as labels for people — but to understand what mode people are in at any given point in time. “When I spoke with the Apple executive, she was trying to convey the difference between a person in superstar mode and one in rock star mode — terms which have been appropriated and have lost meaning. But when it comes to building teams, she felt it was really important to understand their distinct roles and needs.”

Here’s what she meant:

• Superstar mode: the people on your team who are going to change everything; responsible for Schumpeterian change; a force — and source — of growth on a team.
• Rock star mode: the people on your team who don’t want their boss’ job; very talented at their role and will keep doing and digging into it for years if a boss doesn’t screw it up; a force — and source — of excellence and stability on a team.

People in superstar mode want a world they can change. Those in rock star mode seek a world they can stabilize. You’ll need both.

As the company grew, Scott naturally presented Derrick with an opportunity for a leadership role. “I asked him if he wanted to head up the support team. Derrick declined. He said to me, ‘No. My real ambition is to be a Broadway actor. What I really want is to be able to leave work every day at 5pm so that I can get to these off-Broadway productions that I do.’” Here is where Scott made the mistake. She wrote Derrick off.

This instance made me realize that the way we tend to think about talent management gets it exactly wrong. Performance is a key factor — it’s important to distinguish excellent performance from low performance. That’s fine,” says Scott. “But often when we think about so called ‘talent planning’ — we use the word ‘potential.’ ‘Potential’ is exactly the wrong word.”

The problem with “potential” is that when you mark someone as low-potential, you devalue your rock stars off the bat. “Instead, use the word growth trajectory.

Scott has seen — and been a part of — some great teams, and they aren’t all superstars and rock stars. “If you look at this chart, the majority of people on your team, of course, will be doing good work, but not great work.”

Before you start to write your team into these buckets, let this one lesson sink in: don’t use a permanent marker. “I can’t stress this enough for managers. There are no permanent markers. Don’t write people’s name in a box and leave them there,” says Scott.

This is not your grandfather’s talent planning. It’s simple and powerful. It should be done once a year.

How To Use This Framework

Scott recommends that leaders work with their managers and teams to fill out this framework once a year. “Take the time to help every single person on your team grow in the way that they want to grow. I don’t know any leader who would disagree with that, but I know many who say they are too busy to take the time. So this is very fast,” says Scott.

The specific actions managers take for people in each of these modes not only clears the way for distinct employees to thrive, but also leaves a significant imprint on the company culture. Here’s how:

Superstar mode. For the people who are in superstar mode — those who are going to drive growth on your team — what you want to offer them is new challenges. “Shortly after I joined Google, Larry Page told me a story about a time when he had a summer job and his boss gave him a project that was supposed to take him the whole summer. Larry, of course, had an idea of how he could get it done in 12 hours or less.”

When Page recounted this story to Scott, she could see how formative this moment was for him.

Lastly, take note of the lifetime of superstars. “Make sure you identify a successor because you often can’t retain your superstars. They’re going to leave you better than they found you.”

Rock star mode. People in rock star mode want a pasture, not a runway. You’re not giving them a route to take off, but making space to settle into their work. “Read The Peter Principle, a management book that reminds you of something that ought to be obvious but often isn’t.”

The choice of the manager here goes beyond just one rock star’s role. “Don’t create an organization that is so obsessed by promotion and status that it feels humiliating for the rock stars to stick around,” says Scott.

“Jumping ahead, it was also good for me, because it was while I was on bed rest when I realized how much more I cared about management than cost per click.”

The bottom line is that it works out, but only if you respect your rock stars — and keenly balance your need for growth with stability on your team. Early-stage and high-growth startups will over-index on superstars, but they’ll need to add in rock stars as they grow, guaranteed.

Middle-performance column. So what do you do for people who are just doing adequate work? “I’m going to assert that there’s no such thing as a B-player. Nobody’s capable of doing just so-so work.”

Low performance, steep trajectory mode. Those in the upper left quadrant are people who ought to be doing great but are failing for some reason. “I call this the look-yourself-in-the-mirror quadrant. As a manager, this is when somebody else’s poor performance may just be your fault.”

In this scenario, ask yourself the following questions:

• Have you made expectations clear enough?
• Do you need to give these people clear feedback?
• Do they need a new manager?

Low performance, gradual growth trajectory mode. There will be people who aren’t doing well and aren’t getting better. “What about these people? It’s not nice to these individuals to ignore their low performance.”

The Best Type of Manager For High-Performers

One of the biggest mistakes that managers make with the people who are doing the best on their team is just get out of their way. “They know they’ve hired talented people, and they don’t want to micromanage them.”

Reference this simple framework to make sure that you’re landing in the right place as a manager for your top people.

The Start of It All

Building a kickass team starts with something incredibly simple, not a big company process, but something you already know how to do: get to know people at a fundamental human level. “Having three different career conversations — life story, dreams, and career action plan — is a much better course of action.”

“Taken together, these three conversations, with each person who reports directly to you, will help you balance growth and stability so your team can scale.”

Photography by Michael George.